ATTORNEY GENERAL HORNE TO JOIN MULTI-STATE EFFORT TO CHALLENGE THE OBAMA HEALTH CARE LAW IN COURT

PHOENIX (Tuesday January 18, 2011) - Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne today announced that his office will join Governor Brewer and several other states in challenging the constitutionality of the Obama health care plan. The State of Arizona through Governor Brewer initially joined the suit last May. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida and includes twenty states. Several additional states will file to join the suit today.

Last October the judge rejected the U.S. Department of Justices arguments and allowed two critical claims raised by the States to move forward: (1) the individual mandate is an unconstitutional exercise of Congress' authority under the Commerce Clause; and (2) the costly expansion of Medicaid and the States inability to effectively opt-out of the program amount to an unconstitutional coercion of the States at the hands of Congress. The court currently has under advisement summary judgment motions filed by all parties.

Horne stated: "The 10th amendment provides that all powers not expressly delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states or the people respectively. The constitution does not give the power to the federal government to force people to buy things they don't want to buy, such as health insurance. The requirement in the Obama bill that they do so is therefore unconstitutional. In addition, the bill requires states to make huge expenditures that they would not otherwise make, which is also unconstitutional. In the case of Arizona, this is a requirement to spend an additional $1 billion per year, approximately, which is money that Arizona does not have."

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*** Consumer Advisory *** Tom Horne Warns Consumers to Watch out for Bogus Solicitations from "Title Compliance"

(Phoenix, Ariz. - January 14, 2011)  Attorney General Tom Horne is warning Arizona consumers to watch out for solicitations from a company called "Title Compliance, Records Retrieval Division."   The official looking solicitation offers to obtain a certified copy of the property owners' deed, advising that a "current copy" should be obtained "due to property foreclosures and loan modifications in your county." 

Property owners are advised that foreclosures and loan modifications in their neighborhood have no effect on their own property deed.  Deeds typically do not change unless the property owner recently purchased, sold or refinanced their property.  Property owners can review their deed, at no cost, by visiting their county recorders website.   

The solicitation requests that consumers send $157.00 to Title Compliance on or before 1/28/11 to obtain a certified copy of their deed.  While it is advisable for all property owners to have a copy, there is no requirement to do so.  Also, property owners who desire a certified copy of their deed can do so, by visiting their county recorders website.  A certified copy of a property deed costs less than $10. 

If you believe you have been a victim of consumer fraud, please contact the Attorney General's office in Phoenix at 602-542-5763 in Tucson at 520-628-6504, or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at 1-800-352-8431.  Consumers can also file complaints online by visiting the Attorney General's website at www.azag.gov.  To file a complaint in person, the Attorney General's office has satellite offices throughout the state.  Locations and hours of operation are posted on the Attorney General's website.

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STATEMENT BY ARIZONA ATTORNEY GENERAL TOM HORNE REGARDING CONGRESSWOMAN GIFFORDS

PHOENIX - I am devastated to hear about the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and others. Gabby served in the Legislature while I served as Superintendent of Public Instruction and we worked together well even though we were of opposite parties. She was very amiable and easy to get along with. The initial responsibility for bringing justice is to local law enforcement, but my liaison Gerald Richard told the Tucson Chief of Police we will do anything to help. To the extent the Attorney General has an appropriate role to play we will devote the necessary resources to help see to it that justice is done swiftly.

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HORNE RECRUITS EXPERIENCED TRIAL LAWYERS TO ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2010

(PHOENIX)--Tom Horne, Attorney General Elect, announced today that he has recruited a number of experienced trial lawyers for the Attorney General’s Office.

            “To win cases for the people of Arizona, we must recruit experienced trial lawyers who can handle tough cases and can help train less experienced lawyers within the office,” Horne said.

            These lawyers include:

• James Keppel, as Chief of the Criminal Division.  Keppel was a prosecutor for 18 years, a Superior Court judge for 14 years, was Chief Deputy in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, and was selected as Prosecutor of the Year by the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys’ Advisory Council multiple times, both for Maricopa County and for the state of Arizona.  He has tried over 100 cases to a jury.

• Buddy Rake has practiced as a trial lawyer for 38 years.  He has tried over 100 cases to a jury and obtained ten verdicts in excess of $1 million.  He has tried 12 cases that led to a change in conduct, manufacturing, design, or decision making, that resulted in reduction of injuries or deaths.  He was selected as one of the “Southwest Super Lawyers” for 2007-2009.  He will be joining the Attorney General’s Office on completion of the major cases that he now has scheduled for trial.  (Other lawyers on the list will be joining the Attorney General’s Office on January 3.)

• Michael Tryon has practiced trial law for 37 years, both criminal and civil.  He has tried 75 cases to a jury.  His appellate advocacy includes 6 reported civil appellate cases and 15 reported criminal appellate cases.

• Larry Cutler has practiced trial law for 32 years; 15 years as a prosecutor of homicide, organized crime, and complex crimes.  He has tried over 50 cases to a jury.

• Ron Lebowitz has practiced as a trial lawyer for 30 years, including 10 as a prosecutor.  He has tried over 90 cases to a jury.

• Andrew Pacheco, a former candidate for County Attorney, handled 600 criminal cases to disposition in the County Attorney’s Office, 200 in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and civil cases in private practice.

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